QAU tops HEC ranking of Pakistan higher education institutions

Islamabad

With a score of 100 per cent in quality assurance, teaching quality, research, finance and facilities, and social integration, Quaid-e-Azam University has once again topped the Higher Education Commission (HEC)’s fifth ranking of Pakistan Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) for the year 2013 to 2014, both in the overall and general category.

In overall top 10 Higher Education Institutions, second and third positions were secured by University of Punjab, Lahore and National University of Science and Technology respectively followed by University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Aga Khan University, Comsats Institute of Information Technology, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences Islamabad, University of Karachi, University of Health Sciences, Lahore, and University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore.   

Announced on Tuesday by the HEC Chairperson Mukhtar Ahmed, the ranking provides complete picture to stakeholders like researchers, students, business community, parents, industry etc to compare institutions according to different parameters of their need.  HEC Acting Executive Director Dr. G. Raza Bhatti, former vice chancellor QAU Dr. Qasim Jan, HEC director generals Dr. Mazhar Saeed, and Ahmad Yahya Khan were also present on the occasion.

“The objective is to promote positive competition among HEIs and boost academic and research culture in universities,” said the Chairperson while highlighting aims and objectives of the ranking exercise. “It will encourage HEIs to compete at international level, improve quality and standards.”

The ranking was carried out under various categories including Engineering and Technology, Business Education, Agriculture and Veterinary, Medical, and Arts and Design. The major criteria for evaluation of universities were quality assurance, teaching quality, research, finance and facilities, and social integration/community development which were assessed through 66 indicators.

Under the Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences category, University of Agriculture Faisalabad has topped the list followed by University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam, and Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences.

Iqra University Karachi, stood first in Business category. The university is followed by Lahore School of Economics, Institute of Business Administration Karachi, Institute of Management Science Peshawar, Sukkur Institute of Business Administration, SZABIST, The Superior College Lahore, Institute of Business Management Karachi, University of Central Punjab Lahore, Greenwich University, Karachi and others.

 Under the Arts category, National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore remained at the top, followed by Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi.

Aga Khan University is the top scorer among universities falling under the Medical category. University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Dow University of Health Sciences Karachi, Khyber Medical University Peshawar were on the second, third and fourth position respectively in the list of as many as 13 universities. 

The ranking also covered the Engineering category comprising 21 universities with National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) at the top followed by Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) Islamabad, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Science and Technology Topi, and Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad.

As many as 73 higher education institutions have made their place in the General category with Quaid-e-Azam Uniersity, Islamabad; Punjab University, Lahore; Comsats, Islamabad; Karachi University; PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi; Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore; Government College University, Faisalabad; and University of Peshawar on the top.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad briefed the media about objectives and methodology of the ranking. He said that the ranking is based on the data collected during 2013-14, adding that HEC verified and counter-checked the data from all the universities before compiling the final ranking.

He said that 129 universities were reviewed for ranking, while 66 parameters were adopted for scoring. He said that Distance Learning Institutions and the HEIs established after June 2010 were not included in the ranking as well as Pakistan Military Academy Abbottabad and Pakistan Naval Academy, Karachi. He said HEC will start working on the ranking for 2015 in March.

To a question regarding illegal campuses of universities, the Chairman said that HEC is against the commercialization of higher education and it has been warning time to time about the illegal campuses through media so that the future of students could be secured. 

He said that HEC inspections committees have already collected data related to legal status, governance and performance of 157 HEIs and they are in the process of compiling report which will soon be displayed at the HEC website. Regarding quality assurance, he said that HEC has cancelled 48 PhD programs and many M Phil programs that were not up to the mark.  

Answering another question related to the hardships of PhD scholars, particularly with regard to the powers of supervisors, he said that HEC has allowed the scholars to request for change of their supervisor in case of any complaint. When asked about the HEC initiatives in various disciplines of Social Sciences, he said that HEC also pays special attention to promotion of Social Sciences in the country. 

He said HEC is planning to introduce subject ranking in future to assess best university for a particular subject. Answering to a question about neglecting sports in ranking criteria, chairperson said that this cannot be done unless equal sports facilities are provided in all HEIs. He further said that HEC is planning to establish a sports university in the country.